For decades, the legendary shock metal collective GWAR has made a living out of brutally, and hilariously, mutilating effigies of politicians, pop stars, and historical figures during their blood-soaked live performances. However, when the intergalactic barbarians set their sights on the MAGA movement during a 2025 festival appearance, the resulting backlash took a disturbing turn.
The controversy stems from the band’s performance at last fall’s Riot Fest in Chicago, Illinois. Keeping with their long-standing tradition of cartoonish stage violence, the band simulated the gruesome disembowelment of U.S. President Donald Trump and the beheading of tech billionaire Elon Musk. The campy spectacle quickly caught the attention of conservative social media influencers, sparking outrage and accusations that the band was actively inciting violence against the political right.
The popular right-wing account Libs Of TikTok led the charge, publicly condemning the heavy metal act to their massive following:
“Performers at Riot Fest in Chicago, Illinois, simulated the bloody disemboweling of President Trump on stage while people cheered. This is incitement. They know exactly what they’re doing. Democrats can’t help themselves. They love promoting violence.”
Unfazed by the viral outrage, GWAR vocalist Blöthar The Berserker quickly dismissed the accusations. Speaking to Billboard in the immediate aftermath of the festival, the frontman stayed perfectly in character while defending the band’s artistic expression.
“The idea that GWAR is normalizing violence is patently absurd,” he said at the time. “We’re not millionaires that are afraid of what people are going to say when they see what we do… Yeah, it pissed me off! We’re a group of artists that makes art, and it’s really the idea that what we have done is normalizing violence… there’s nothing normal about the violence that goes on at a GWAR show. It’s a cartoon, it’s Looney Tunes.”
He further mocked the social media firestorm, viewing the sudden conservative outrage as nothing more than a welcome promotional boost.
“Like I know this is a rage bait engagement farming twitter account, but ‘GWAR crossed a major line’ is one of the funniest f**king things I’ve ever heard. The dumbest people on the internet are still mad today. Got to love it. As long as they keep posting that awesome video and mentioning our name for the free publicity it’s a win for me.”
While the band has continued to double down on their political satire, recently adding ICE and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to their stage show hitlist, the intense pushback was not entirely a laughing matter.
In a recent interview with The Guardian exploring the history of theatrical masks in heavy metal, GWAR rhythm guitarist Mike Derks (better known by his alter-ego Balsac The Jaws Of Death) revealed that the band became the target of serious death threats following the Riot Fest performance. He pointed out the deep irony of facing such severe backlash in a country built on the foundation of free speech.
“In a sense, it’s just laughable, but it was scary when we were getting death threats over social media. It did get me very upset when people were trying to say: ‘Oh, you can’t do that.’ This is the country where we’re supposed to be able to do that! People were saying we can’t do it after we’d been doing it for 40 years,” he said.
